Small Claims Court Letter - N.Ireland.

System

If the OP was not the driver, then the defence should have evidence of them being elsewhere at the time. Can your presence elsewhere be proven e.g cash machine transaction, receipt, time sheet etc?

No point in letting it drag on through the system to shout "ah-ha" at the WS stage. Kill it now.

nosferatu1001

In 31, what does the attendendant statement to you do, other than suggest the identity of the driver on the day?

MercurialNo.10

In 31? Unsure what you mean by this.

The claim statement seems to be from an administrator of the car parking company, the main attendant on the park had previously told me that I wouldn't be ticketed (have witnesses of this fact). It makes a massive assumption that I was the driver, isn't the burden of proof on them proving the driver rather than me proving I wasn't?

The attendant had told his seniors about the arrangement (found this out after the fact), so I have no qualms about mentioning this, but obviously will not admit any liability.

nosferatu1001

Post #31
It improves the odds you were the driver on that day, by proiving you a) had been the driver at that place beofre and b) had sought out the attendant to confrm you could park there.
Personally I wouldnt make any hints as to the drivers identity, as while they have to prove their claim, they only have to prove it 51% likely.

Umkomaas

Umkomaas wrote: »

[
https://www.docdroid.net/0DgKCHJ/courtclaimstatement-1.pdf

Just doing a bit more digging on this. The 'court statement' you've linked above, while very similar, is not exactly the same as the one shown on the NI Justice Government website, which has 2 pages.

LINK

Does your copy have 2 pages? If so, do they match up exactly to the linked example above? We had a spell in E&W a few years ago where a PPC was issuing fake court claim forms using a photoshopped copy of a real form. Just wondering if this might be happening here. Maybe wild speculation, but worth checking out to eliminate the possibility.

Have you contacted the Langanside Court to check out the authenticity of this claim?

MercurialNo.10

It is authentic, the second page contains dates of LTK etc. The form you have linked is what they would have filled out to make the claim against me.

The POFA point is the main one, just unsure about how best to word it in the dispute.

Do I ask for their proof/evidence that I broke the contract at this point?

twhitehousescat

Umkomaas wrote: »

You are just the registered keeper, and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which provides the opportunity to pass liability to the keeper, absent knowing who the driver was, only applies in England and Wales.

The basis on which they are attempting to hold you liable needs to be flushed out.

There's another identical/similar case to yours which emerged on the forum a couple of days ago:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74830500#Comment_74830500

You should PM the OP, compare notes, work on your strategies, keep in touch with each other's progress as well as keeping in touch with the forum.

Are you able to scan/photograph the paperwork (suitably redacted) and host it on a free hosting site for us to have a closer look at - this is uncharted water for us right now, so seeing exactly what they are sending out will help us give you best advice.

sorry am i missing something , this is northern ireland , is the POFa applicable in NI ?

Umkomaas

MercurialNo.10 wrote: »

It is authentic, the second page contains dates of LTK etc.

LTK? What's that please?

The POFA point is the main one, just unsure about how best to word it in the dispute.

You need to find out exactly in what capacity they are trying to sue you - driver/registered keeper/owner? PoFA (or lack of in NI) would only come into play if they were to pursue you as the keeper (or possibly as the owner). It's a moot point until you determine the 'target' of their claim.

By what date (should be shown on page 2 of the form) do you have to respond to this? What is the 'appropriate form'?

If you intend to dispute this claim, issue a counterclaim or accept liability then you must lodge the appropriate form with the above court office no later than ___________________.

It doesn't seem to me (but I might be wrong - we're all fishing in the dark with this at the moment) that you are at the stage of formally defending the claim.

MercurialNo.10

NTK/LTK Notice/letter to keeper.

They are pursuing me as the registered keeper of the vehicle, in Northern Ireland.

They do not know who was driving.

I think this is a court claim because the amount is more than the costs to bring it to court.

DoaM

Umkomaas wrote: »

It doesn't seem to me (but I might be wrong - we're all fishing in the dark with this at the moment) that you are at the stage of formally defending the claim.

Are you thinking this is like the Acknowledgement of Service stage, albeit with an option to advise in what manner you intend to proceed? (e.g. defend, admit, counterclaim).